1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method and system for performing a distributed verification with respect to measurement data in a sensor network. More particularly, aspects of the present invention relate to a method and system for performing a distributed verification with respect to measurement data in a sensor network that can reduce an overhead by reducing an amount of information transmitted to a base station via an aggregator and can efficiently verify measurement data received from a sensor and improve security by directly verifying the aggregator itself in a distributed method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sensor networks are designed to be able to collect information aggregated in a variety of sensors wirelessly. As wireless personal area networks (WPANs) and ad hoc networks have been developed, development of technologies using sensor networks have been active. Currently, technologies using sensor networks are used to find logistics information flow by attaching tags to goods using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
Sensors can also measure information such as temperatures, position information, pressure, fingerprints, gases, and the like. Accordingly, sensors can be used to acquire information about particular regions. For example, when a plurality of sensors is dropped into alpine regions where information is difficult to obtain, various information, such as temperatures or wind forces, can be acquired by receiving the information from the plurality of sensors.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a sensor network in a conventional art. A plurality of sensors 102 existing in a particular area 101 transmits measurement data to a base station 103. The base station 103 acquires information about the particular area 101 using the measurement data. The measurement data is measured by the plurality of sensors 102. The plurality of sensors 102 is generally densely deployed in a random way or near a phenomenon area. The plurality of sensors 102 generates a considerable data flow for the base station 103 controlling the network.
Nodes included in the sensor network use techniques for an ad hoc network, such as building a wireless communication network on their own, collecting data, using a broadcast communication paradigm as a communication method, and the like. However, the sensor network includes a plurality of nodes, and thus the sensor network needs to process a large amount of information generated in each node. Techniques for ad hoc networks cannot be applied to the sensor network due to properties of the sensor network, such as a susceptibility to failure of nodes. Accordingly, an efficient communication protocol and a data processing algorithm is required for the sensor network.
Since the sensor network must operate on limited resources, such as computation capability, memory, and battery energy, transmitting the data flow described above to the base station 102 consumes excessive amounts of power. When the plurality of sensors 102 is deployed in a hostile territory, security for the sensor network, such as integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of data is needed. However, the cryptographic techniques of the conventional art may not be used due to the limited resources of the network.
Thus, a method and system for performing a distributed verification with respect to measurement data in a sensor network is needed.